McBirdie`s Nest

There aren’t too many people who don’t find that an inside peek at the polygamist sect of the Mormons gives them a certain salacious thrill—whether that is because it unsettles their belief that anything non-monogamous is wrong, or because they find the idea of a religion that is borderline cultish intriguing, or simply because they enjoy a poly lifestyle themselves and thrill to see it in circumstances so far removed for what we consider ‘normal’ for poly folks in the normal world—it is a topic that is more full of rumour and speculation than any real facts, and the chance to see what it is like on the inside is a thrilling one.

And this is an incredibly readable book, which when coupled with the interesting topic, makes for a very enjoyable read.  The story is actually run on two lines—the first being the real life story of Ann Eliza Young (Brigham Young’s 19^th(ish) wife) and her revolt against the polygamy lifestyle in which she had been raised; the second is the fictionalized story of a young man’s search for the murder of his mother’s husband…she herself the 19^th wife of a polygamist church leader.  The line that follows Ann Eliza Young cannot be faulted, as far as I’m concerned.  With a plethora of fictionalized historical documents, captivating details of her life, and the interest held by it being about A Real Person, it was what kept me reading this book every night until it was gone.

What I was less impressed with, though, was the modern line.  I found the narrator to be…well.  Annoying.  He is a young gay man who doesn’t have much of a life going for him until his mother is thrown in jail and I found him self-absorbed, shallow, and unsympathetic.  Too often the author just gave the broad strokes of his situation and expected the reader to do the heavy lifting to get themselves interested and sympathetic.  It just didn’t work for me.  I had to check online to see who had written it, so convinced I was that this really was written by a young man who had a better story than he had writing skills.  I wanted to find the editor who didn’t rein him in; come to find out, that’s just the ‘tool’ of an experienced author.  I’m sure there are readers who will find this narrator interesting and charming.  I found him stabbable. 

On the note of having to look up to find out who the author was is my only other complaint, which may very well be a personal one only.  I struggle with fictionalized accounts that attempt to be very historically accurate, because I spend so much of my time trying to track down which parts were made up and which weren’t.  Great for my research skills, I suppose, but a bit distracting.  I think, really, it’s better to just do a non-fiction account or go straight fiction.  This way was a bit exhausting.  And side note:  using his own personal website in the book (it was written as being a site dedicated to helping children who are thrown out of the sect or run away) grated on my nerves.  It was an unnecessary plug, to my mind.

Those gripes aside, I’m not kidding when I say it is very readable and even though there were things that I didn’t enjoy, I still felt it was time well-spent.  If you do have any interest in those strange folks out in Utah, this book will be a very approachable glimpse into their world.